Category: Champion League

Basel currently occupy second place but only because of their superior goal difference over CSKA Moscow. However, CSKA play bottom side Benfica in the group’s other match, so the Swiss side could drop down to third by the end of gameweek 5.

Manchester United still haven’t guarenteed a place in the next round despite their 100% record in Group A after four matches. However, they only require a point on Wednesday to seal top spot but they will also qualify if CSKA fail to beat Benfica.

Team News

FC Basel 1893 – Taulant Xhaka is suspended for the hosts, while Éder Balanta is one booking away from joining him on the sidelines.

Omar Gaber, Germano Vailati and Ricky van Wolfswinkel are all sidelined for Basel. Latest UCL Odds on Site on NaijaBet.com

Manchester United – Marcos Rojo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba all returned to first-team action at the weekend but Jose Mourinho will carefully manage their involvement at the start of this busy period.

Shakhtar Donetsk can join Manchester City in the knockout phase of the Champions League if they avoid defeat against Napoli on Tuesday. The away side are currently six points clear of Napoli in Group G but have to face City in their last game.

Napoli need to win their last two matches to have any chance of going through after only managing one win from their first four matches. It would be a major disappointment for the Italian side if they failed to make the next round, but it looks that way at the moment. Bet Now

Team News

Napoli- Kalidou Koulibaly is suspended for the hosts while Dries Mertens is one yellow card away from his own one-match ban.

Jupp Heynckes returned to the Allianz Arena helm during the international break and kicked off his reign with a comfortable victory over Freiburg. He’ll now hope to get Bayern’s Champions League campaign back on track with the welcome of Celtic.

The Scottish giants are unbeaten in their last six in all competitions following the 5-0 home defeat to PSG. A 3-0 win over Anderlecht boosted morale, but they can expect to be up against it in Germany on Wednesday night.

Monaco fell to a 5-3 loss in Manchester in the reverse leg, but with three away goals to their name, will be confident of overturning the deficit. The French side come into the clash in good form having won their last four competitive outings.

Manchester City are now unbeaten in their last 11 competitive showings, winning eight. A 2-0 win at Middlesbrough secured their place in the next round of the FA Cup, though the trip to Monaco will be a tough proposition for Pep Guardiola’s side.

After a hugely entertaining affair at the Etihad Stadium, a similar match-up could be on the cards. Naija and Bet

Team News

Monaco – Kamil Glik is suspended for the hosts, though Jemerson is available and should start alongside Andrea Raggi.

Barcelona will need to become only the fourth side to overturn 4-0 deficit in UEFA competition history and the first side to accomplish the feat since 1984/85. Luis Enrique’s side should be encouraged after putting six goals past Sporting Gijon followed up by one of their best performances of the season at the weekend when they beat Celta Vigo 5-0.

The La Liga giants are seeking a 15th straight home victory in the Champ- ions League, having won all 14 games at the Camp Nou under their current coach. They are unbeaten in 19 matches at home in the competition, a run that started in September 2013 (W18 D1).

They have also won seven of the 10 matches they have hosted against French sides at the Camp Nou.

While you can see Barcelona scoring four, it’s hard to see them keeping a clean sheet against PSG. Their failure to get an away goal in the first leg could prove their undoing on Wednesday. Naija and Bet

Napoli have been inconsistent since their 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid last month, winning two and losing two, though they warmed up for the welcome of Real Madrid with a fine 2-1 win at Roma.

They bagged a vital away goal in Madrid and given their goalscoring form, will be confident of pulling the deficit back.

Real Madrid have lost just one of their last 10 competitive outings and romped to a 4-1 win at Eibar at the weekend. With Gareth Bale back fully fit and Cristiano Ronaldo not in action at the weekend, their star attackers are ready and rearing to go for the tough trip to Naples. NaijaBet.com

Napoli have the means to score against Real Madrid, but the Spanish side have what it takes to secure their spot in the next round of the Champions League.

Team News

Napoli – Dries Mertens is a doubt with a calf problem for Napoli, though should be fit to feature here.

Arsenal come into this tie on the back of an underwhelming run of form have lost four of their last six, with one of their two wins coming at lowly Sutton United in the FA Cup.

Only three teams have ever overturned a four-goal first-leg loss in the Champions League and face an uphill task if they are to secure a spot in the next round of the competition.

Conversely, Bayern are on a fine run of form having failed to win just two of their last 16 competitive fixtures. That being said, they lost their last visit to the Emirates as goals from Olivier Giroud and Mesut Ozil secured a 2-0 win for Arsenal. NaijaBet.com

Bayern romped to a 5-1 win at the Allianz last month and can be expected to pile further misery upon an out-of-form Arsenal side.

Porto have never beaten Juventus in three previous attempts and the objective will surely be to stay in the tie for the reverse leg back in Italy. However, they are unbeaten in their last seven home encounters with Italian opposition.

Juventus have lost four of their 11 previous encounters with Portuguese sides, but all of those defeats came against Benfica. Max Allegri’s side have won each of their last seven matches and are favourites to progress to the next stage of the competition.

Team News

FC Porto – Nuno has no serious concerns ahead of the reception of Juventus on Wednesday, although André Silva and Felipe are a booking away from a ban.Predict, Play Bet & Win Big on NaijaBet

Sevilla are unbeaten in each of their last seven home matches and have only lost to Barcelona and Juventus on their own turf this season. They are underdogs in the competition and could really put Leicester to the sword here over two legs.

Leicester’s season went from bad to worse at the weekend after they were dumped out of the FA Cup by the 10 men of League One outfit Millwall.

They have only won two games in 2017 and have only found the back of the net in three of their 10 matches this calender year.

Team News

Sevilla – Sevilla are able to switch between a variety of formations so it remains to be seen what system Jorge Sampaoli goes for against Leicester on Wednesday.

Vicente Iborra was suspended for Sevilla’s 2-0 win over Eibar at the weekend but is available to return here. Nico Pareja missed the match through injury and remains a doubt here, with Clement Lenglet ready to deputise in his absence if required.Continue reading “UCL Match Preview : Sevilla vs Leicester”

Bayer Leverkusen bounced back from successive league defeats with back-to-back wins and will look to carry this momentum into the welcome of Atletico Madrid. They are unbeaten in the Champions League this term, though drew two of their three home group games earlier in the season.

Atletico Madrid are unbeaten in their last seven games away from home, though four of those have been draws.

A 4-1 win at the weekend ended a run of successive stalemates on the road as they returned to winning ways on their travels at just the right time.

Neither side will want to give too much away in the first leg with a draw on the cards in Germany. Naija and Bet

Arsenal have not progressed past the round of 16 in the Champions League since the 2009/10 campaign and have been knocked out at this stage by Bayern Munich twice since then.

The Gunners come into this match out of form having struggled to overcome Hull at the weekend having previously lost each of their last two before that.

Bayern have won each of their last 15 home matches in the Champions League, while Arsenal have lost three of their last seven away matches in the competition. The German giants may not be as intimidating with Carlo Ancelotti at the helm but they are still favourites to win this tie.

The Bavarians won 5-1 the last time these two sides met and while the scoreline isn’t expected to be so dominant this time around, Arsenal may still leave themselves too much to do when they return to London in the return leg. Predict on NaijaBet.com

Paris Saint-Germain are unbeaten in the Champions League this season but have only managed to win one of their three home matches in the competition. They haven’t lost at home in any competition since March but tend to encounter problems at this stage of the Champions League.

Barcelona warmed up for the trip to Paris with an emphatic 6-0 win away to Alaves on Saturday. Luis Enrique was able to ring the changes in that win and come away with their biggest away win of the season.

This fixture has seen at least four goals scored in each of the last four and there should be plenty of goals in this fixture with Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez both in devastating form coming into this fixture. Naija and Bet

Team News

Paris Saint Germain – Paris Saint-Germain warmed up for their clash with Barcelona in ideal circumstances on Friday night after thrashing Bordeaux 3-0 and getting key players off early and rested.

Benfica have won eight of their last nine on home soil and have scored 23 goals in the last six of those. Not only that, but they have kept 11 clean sheets in their last 15 competitive matches Estadio da Luz.

Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, have been poor away from home all season. They have only won one of their last six on the road and haven’t kept a clean sheet on the road since September.

Dortmund are favourites to come through this tie but they may only get it done when they return to home soil in the return leg. Tuesday’s encounter should be a much closer affair than many may anticipate.

Team News

Benfica – Ederson was sent off on Friday night but his league suspension does not carry over into European competition. Predict on NaijaBet.com

Eduardo Salvio failed to shake off an injury to feature last time out and he will start on the right of midfield should he recover in time to face Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday night.